GLAAD's 2023 "Accelerating Acceptance" Survey Proves Overwhelming Support For LGBTQ+ Rights
Each year through extensive polling and research, GLAAD looks at the state of America’s hearts and minds when it comes to accepting LGBTQ people.
For the past eight years, GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has conducted surveys of non-LGBTQ+ Americans to gauge the level of acceptance for LGBTQ+ people in American society and the numbers this year are unequivocal:
A staggering 84% support equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.
This number is an all-time high and shows that the steady increase in acceptance for LGBTQ+ equality has not been affected by the current climate of hate and fear against the community being waged by the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.
In reality, hatred against the LGBTQ+ community is mostly an online phenomenon, with the occasional foray into mainstream reality, such as during the latest Target freakouts. But the good news is that most people are seeing through the lies and gaslighting coming from the loudest anti-queer and anti-trans propagandists such as Matt Walsh.
Some of the major findings are:
A significant 70% of non-LGBTQ Americans agree that companies should publicly support and include the LGBTQ community through hiring practices as well as advertising and sponsorships.
A 96% supermajority of non-LGBTQ Americans agree that schools should be a safe and accepting place for all youth.
A 91% supermajority of non-LGBTQ Americans agree that LGBTQ people should have the freedom to live their life and not be discriminated against
An 84% supermajority of non-LGBTQ Americans support equal rights for the LGBTQ community
However, on the flip side GLAAD’s report finds that there is still a lot of work to be done in familiarizing non-LGBTQ+ Americans about the complexity of the LGBTQ+ community.
55% of non-LGBTQ Americans do not understand the dimensions of the LGBTQ community or how to describe individuals that make up the LGBTQ community.
Less than 30% (28%) of non-LGBTQ Americans say they personally know a transgender person.
50% of non-LGBTQ Americans agree that nonbinary and transgender people are new and/or unfamiliar to them.
GLAAD’s report also finds that media is the way people learn about LGBTQ+ people, and representation in the media is tremendously important. That means feelings of compassion and understanding increase when seeing LGBTQ+ characters portrayed in the media. Representation really does matter.
75% of non-LGBTQ adults feel comfortable seeing LGBTQ people in advertisements.
73% of non-LGBTQ adults report feeling comfortable seeing LGBTQ characters included in TV shows or movies.
68% of non-LGBTQ adults feel comfortable seeing an LGBTQ family with children included in an advertisement.
60% of non-LGBTQ adults agree that seeing LGBTQ in ads make them more comfortable with people who are different than themselves.
Non-LGBTQ adults who are exposed to the LGBTQ community in media are 30% more likely to feel famliar with LGBTQ people overall, compared to people who haven’t been exposed to LGBTQ people in content or media.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the GLAAD report finds that a clear majority of people are comfortable with LGBTQ+ people being present in places of worship or in their own families as well, those the numbers trend downwards for transgender and non-binary people.
80% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable having a gay, lesbian or bisexual person at their place of worship.
76% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable having a nonbinary person at their place of worship
76% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable having a transgender person at their place of worship.
75% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable learning a family member is gay, lesbian or bisexual
68% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable learning a family member is nonbinary.
66% of non-LGBTQ adults are comfortable learning a family member is transgender.
“While these results are a clear demonstration that fair and accurate representation in media and journalism have a powerful and measurable effect on the lives of LGBTQ people, America is at a critical juncture when it comes to LGBTQ acceptance and safety. Support for LGBTQ equality has reached an all-time high, but allyship must turn into action. Media, content creators, and corporate leaders need to lead and respond to hate with undeterred support for the LGBTQ community, including LGBTQ employees, shareholders and consumers. Allyship is not easy, but when values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested, we must defend them unequivocally."
GLAAD President & CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis
Happy Pride!